Letter or bill file



(No Model.)

0. 0. MACKENZIE. LETTER 0R BILL-FILE.-

.No. 291,752. Patented Jan. 8, 1884.

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Nrrnn rams OSCAR C. MACKENZIE,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

LETTER OR BILL FILE.

EPBCIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 291,752, dated January 8, 1884.

Application filed September 24, 1883.

T0 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Oscar: (J. lVIACKENZIE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ohicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Letter and Bill Files, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in bill and letter files; and it consists in certain novel peculiarites of construction and arrangement, whereby its efficiency is increased and it is simplified and rendered more durable, substantially as will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe its construction and operation, referring to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my invention; and Figs. 2 and 3 are details of parts of the same.

A represents a box or receptacle, of the usual and well-known form, provided with a series of sheets of heavy paper, B, having indexletters upon their edges, between which the bills or letters are placed, and also with a spring-clamp, 0, adapted to hold the sheets firmly in place or to be turned back out of the way at the pleasure of the user. It has been usual to place these separatingsheets in the box, and secure them by passing them over a pin or stud fixed in the bottom of the box near its rear side. This, however, throws the letters or bills out a'short distance from the back and allows them room to swing, thus allowing the corners to project beyond the index-leaves and getting creased and soiled, and their edges are defaced by contact with the stud. I overcome this difiiculty as follows: The back of the box A is formed with a vertical recess, a, in which the retaining stud or pin D is placed. This pin is pivoted or hinged at b in bottom of the box, and its upper end is held in place by an open slot, 1), in a small plate, V, which is provided with a hinged or pivoted latch, 0, adapted to be thrown across the open end of the slot 1) in front of the stud or pin D. The separating-sheets B are each provided in the center of their rear edge with (No model.)

a tag, (I, of any suitable material, having an elongated hole, (1, formed in them, through which is passed a small sleeve or tube, D, which fits over the retaining stud or pin D, and is formed on its upper end with a projection or flange, (i for a purpose presently explained.

The operation of the device is as follows: Being properly placed in the box, the letters and bills are placed between the separating index-sheets till the whole is filled, being firmly held in place and prevented from twisting by the rear edges of the sheets abutting against the back of the box, and their tabs extending into the recess and over the sleeve and its hinged pin. The holes in these tabs being elongated allows of the sheets being freely turned back to gain access to the contents. When the file is full, the latch is thrown up, the hinged retaining-pin pulled outward at its upper end, and the separating-sheets removed, together with the sleeve or tube D, and placed in a similar box for storage, the sleeve serving to easily and quickly guide the tabs to their place upon the retaining-stud, and then being withdrawn for use again in the original box, which is supplied with a new series of index leaves. This is quickly placed in position, and the stud is then turned up into its recess and secured by the latch, as represented in the drawings, where it is out of the way and cannot be injured by being accidentally struck when the file is in use.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim'as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a letter or bill file, a box or case having a retaining pin or stud recessed in its rear side, in combination with a series of index separating-sheets, each of which is provided with a projecting tag having an elongated hole, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a letter or bill file, a box or case provided with a series of index separating-sheets,

in combination with a hinged retaining pin or '95 stud, and means, substantially as described,

for confining the free end of said pin at will,

substantially as and for the purpose set forth. 3. In a letter or bill file, a series of separatward edges, and their rear edges provided with a projecting tab formed With an elongated opening, substantially as andi'or the purpose set forth.

4. In a letter orbill file, abox or case formed with a recess in its rear side, and having its retaining pin or studhinged atitslower end insaid recess, and its upper end confined in a slotted plate by means of a latch, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a letter or bill file, the case A, having a pin, D, hinged in a recess in its rear side, and the index-sheets 13, each provided with a projecting tab having an elongated hole, in combination with a guide-tube having a flange or projection on one end passed through the tabs and over the hinged pin, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In a letter or bill file, the box A, provided with spring-clamp G, and having a pin or stud, D, hinged at its lower end in arecess, a, in the back of the box, and its upper end confined in an open slotted plate, I), by means of the latch O, in combination with the separating index-sheets 13, provided with the tabs d, having elongated holes d, and the flanged guide-tube D, all constructed and arranged to operate substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

O. C. MACKENZIE.

W itnesses:

\V. O. MCARTHUR, F. J onNsoN. 

